SPYDER SITE GOES LIVE TODAY
By Bobby Riley | September 3rd, 2010
As apart of a summer long initiative, Soldier is excited to announce the launch of the Spyder Website today. Soldier played a driving role in the design and development of the site alongside the Spyder team in Boulder, Colorado. Back in February, around the time of the Olympics you may remember a post that Soldier had started working with the iconic ski brand on a host of initiatives from helping progress their interactive experiences (which you can get a taste of here), to upping their game at retail with a host of point of purchase & shop-in-shop executions including a premium build out for Harrods of London. We will continue to share creative as it becomes available including the design of Spyder’s 2011 women’s product line called Quest.
If There’s A Bustle In Your Hedgerow
By Barry Dugan | September 1st, 2010
I traveled to England recently to participate in the wedding of a very
close friend. It was an amazing journey and wedding. En route to Devon
our caravan stopped at the famed Stonehenge in Wiltshire. It was dark,
rainy, and very appropriate weather to view this site. It was very calm
and ritualistic as a sparse crowd circled the massive stone structure.
There remains ongoing debate about its origin, its assembly, and its
meaning. Dating back 3000 BC, it still fires up the most intense
conversations due to its perceived role in religion, ceremony,
architecture, and sacrifice. As a guest to this site it was quite
interesting to think of the souls who participated in its design and
ultimate construction. A massive task that considered the sky, the earth,
the sun, and future impact and service to civilization as they knew it
then. I took several photos as the rain pounded, the clouds swirled, and
the wind whipped. After we left Stonehenge it immediately made me want to
listen to moody Pink Floyd and Zeppelin music the rest of my stay in the
English Countryside. No Quarter indeed.
SOLDIER STILL HUMMING FROM UFC IN BOSTON
By Bobby Riley | August 30th, 2010
iPhone photo from premium seating
Thanks to Reid and the folks at UFC for the visit to Soldier last week. It was great to get the true insight into the hyper emerging sport and international expansion plans. The Soldier team is still humming from our time at the Fan Expo, Weigh-In and Fight Night experience. It was nothing short of Epic!
Hopefully Dana, Lorenzo, Bryan and the rest of the visiting UFC crew enjoyed Boston and some of Soldier’s local brand experience executions.
SOLDIER ALIGNS WITH DUSTIN PEDROIA & NEW BALANCE
By Bobby Riley | August 25th, 2010
Dustin Perdroia; Photo by Nick Laham
Soldier has aligned with Dustin Pedria & New Balance to set a new precedent in both love & respect for endorsed athletes. Over the summer, Soldier and the New Balance team have been busy creating a powerful graphic identity system for Dustin that will appear on his soon-to-be realeased New Balance 1101 baseball cleat, as well as a host of other technical NB gear. One aspect of the project that Soldier has been deeply involved in from the onset is a pretty expressive DP15 apparel collection, which is expected to be rolling out next season with print and digital broadcasting to support the park sales.
We will keep you tuned in on the designs as they become available to share.
And Dustin, we look forward to having you fully back!
EXPERIENCE CREATIVITY
By Bobby Riley | August 13th, 2010
Lots of travel this week, which has been great. Always good to connect with truly pioneering and progressive brands and the people taking them forward. Soldier has found a special place in many of our relationships, which much of seems to revolve around the subject of creativity and how to push each others limits and progress in ways that matter.
I cam across some great thoughts around experiencing creativity this week, which I wanted to share:
> Creativity: “To be creative requires divergent thinking (generating many unique ideas) and then convergent thinking (combining those ideas into the best result).”
> And where does divergent thinking come from? It comes from being exposed to divergent ideas and cultures and people and intellectual disciplines. As Marc Tucker, the president of the National Center on Education and the Economy, once put it: “One thing we know about creativity is that it typically occurs when people who have mastered two or more quite different fields use the framework in one to think afresh about the other. Intuitively, you know this is true. Leonardo da Vinci was a great artist, scientist and inventor, and each specialty nourished the other. He was a great lateral thinker. But if you spend your whole life in one silo, you will never have either the knowledge or mental agility to do the synthesis, connect the dots, which is usually where the next great breakthrough is found.”
Provocative! And very true in my experience too. I am going to take this with me as I enjoy my vacation next week in the Cape.
Enjoy the rest of your summer!
JAWS – The Brand That Delivers
By Barry Dugan | August 6th, 2010
35 years ago a story and creature came to life on the Big Screen. Written
to trigger consumer fears, suspicions, and intrigue with the depths of the
ocean and what lurks beneath. The mystery. The idea of going to the beach
to frolic with friends and loved ones was simple and pure. Even for your
dog. The scenario of the shark being a killer and hunter were all true.
The consistency of The Great White was documented for centuries. It
evolved and was both calculated and unpredictable. Yes, the world category
of brand should be these as well. Keep the audience intrigued and wanting
to learn more. How do we catch it, learn from it, even dive into where it
lives. Some of the more recent partners we are fortunate enough to be
working with are interested in their evolution, their rhythm, and their
opportunity to gain attraction on regional and global levels. We will
continue to share client stories here as we head into the final quarter of
2010 as they become public domain. Sometimes mystery is a good thing, the
bait if you will. We remain in the hunt – not to the carnivorous extremes
that Quint and Chief Brody took (although the ORCA outing is one of my all
time favorites) – but you get my drift. Swim deeply, explore, and grow
stronger, or tread water and well…..you know…..
A WHISPER ON WILDERNESS WORKSHOP
By Bobby Riley | July 30th, 2010
WW Graphic Identity
Soldier works with The Tannery group once again heading into the opening of a brand new retail concept called the Wilderness Workshop™, which will open as an annex to the 711 Boylston store in Boston, MA at the beginning of September. Yes, approximately a month from now. The store will focus on contemporary outdoor in a very accessible way, delivering highly desirable and authentic Americana outdoor brands like vintage Patagonia, Redwing, RRL, Timberland, Wild Things, Barbour and Pendleton, to name a few. Additionally, they will feature a diverse mix of outdoor brands from the UK and EU delivering a strong international perspective of rugged & meaningful outdoor brands from around the world. A bakery and coffee shop will great you all with fine maple treats, coffee and other classic outdoor snacks. You’ll be able to sit down in deep brown chesterfield seats, enjoy some tasty food, good company and take in the smell of fresh pine trees and chainsaw art that will populate the environment.
As The Tannery continues to scale with brand offering and complexity, Soldier continues to help drive the conceptual platform for communication and consumer-facing message through storytelling, identity creation, retail programming and architecture that reinforces the overall message & voice of product mix, attitude and intended consumer experience.
And with this initiative, the Soldier product development team has worked with a host of opinion leading brands in a collaboratively provoking way in order to develop newly articulated product designs to encompass the spirit of the store it’s strong relationships. These products range from apparel to footwear — including a Wilderness Workshop Bounty Jacket from Fjallraven and Wilderness Workshop Rubber Boot Galoshes with Tretorn – and will be sold exclusively at Wilderness Workshop.
So, from the creation of the Concepts store in Cambridge, MA to the newly introduced Curated and The Tannery on Boylston Street in Boston, we are pleased to whisper some beforehand information, renderings and teasers of our next exploration with the Wilderness Workshop space and products you can expect to arrive this Fall.
Look forward to seeing you at the September launch, if you can make it!
WW Entry
WW Rear View
WW Perspective
WW Tretorn Galosh
WW Fjallraven Bounty Jkt Print
DAN THE MAN
By Bobby Riley | July 21st, 2010
Dan Vogelzang by Day 19
It was two years after I started Soldier Design in 2002, that I was en route to Los Angeles for a business trip at 35,000 ft on Jet Blue, when I heard “Riley” as I was walking down the isle of the plane to get my stretch on. It was Dan Vogelzang, a friend of my wife’s friend who I had met only once before in passing. I liked Dan already because I indirectly knew his Dad’s personality as the President and voice behind VPR, which I listened to often while living in Vermont.
Dan and I shared the same layover in Las Vegas during that trip, where we took advantage of a nearby bar and started chatting. After some small talk and a beer or two later we soon found out that we both came out of the womb obsessed with design and the power it wields in communication and story telling, which were two subjects that keenly interested us both. Some key stars aligned for us quickly as the conversation escalated quickly around the role of design in each of our pasts, but more specifically the role of design in brand communication and the power in has to convene people in a unified fashion.
The building conversation had us high and lead to more sharing about our personal connection to brand, community and contribution to culture. My story was largely centered around my retail background and hot streak tenure in brand marketing with the Burton Snowboard Company. Whereas Dan’s connection to brand, community and contribution to culture was through the lens of designer, interactive connoisseur and impacting experiences at Apple during the launch of the iPod. Shortly after our trip I asked Dan to be a partner in the venture we call Soldier Design.
Dan has been paramount in the success of Soldier, as both an owner and within his functional role as Director of Operations, focused on the subject of process for the business and on behalf of serving our client initiatives. From day one Dan has been determined to make Soldier run like a finely tuned Patek Philippe watch. Dan has earned such nicknames as Intel (as Intel Inside!) and “Cool Proof” named by Steve Costello, co-founder of Raw Skateboards. I think both attribute to the reality that Dan does not shake. His thoughtful, tempered, patient and merciful approach to people, projects and business has created a safe and trustworthy environment for the emerging, explosive and erratic energy within the walls of Soldier to thrive.
Thanks for being you brother!
ALL STAR UNIFORMS IN ACTION ON ESPN
By Bobby Riley | July 12th, 2010
As a follow up to our July 7th post. The MLL All Star uniforms designed by Soldier Design delivered with style and candor last Thursday night against the US World team down the road from Soldier’s studios at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, MA. The fast geometric shapes & roshak ink-spired city scape wore well against the conservative US team uniforms and represented the sponsoring New Balance and Metro Lacrosse with context appropriate distinction. Below are some action shots courtesy of Inside Lacrosse and a link for some airborne motion from friend Stephen Berger by ESPN.
Inside Lacrosse Magazine
Inside Lacrosse Magazine
Inside Lacrosse
Soldier Design Intent File
HUNTER & BLOGGER
By Barry Dugan | July 8th, 2010
Recently thinking of all the information at our fingertips, I reflected on blogging. The deep oceans of content available to anyone with an electrical current and device is staggering. It had me reflect where some of the critical lift-off points for individuals were and who put pen to paper in creating this form of personalized journalism? In a flash my mind went right to Hunter S. Thompson. Yes, he of Gonzo Journalism unapologetically living and documenting how he wanted and what he wanted. He scared a lot of people because he wielded a pen and reckless attitude to call it like he saw it. People cheered or mocked him – there was no middle ground when it came to Hunter. Not too much different then the millions of self-proclaimed expert scribes running amok on the net. Not too much different then the brands populating consumer’s journeys. So when the truth is told and millions read it, it can be entertaining, amusing, and perhaps most of all, real.
At Soldier, we collaborate and push leaders of brands to rethink their position and cause, however noble (see our work with Curio and below with Metro Lacrosse) or frightening (Sig Hansen and his industry) to be truthful and spirited with their brand and with their respective industries and audiences. Audiences waited months for books or Rolling Stone columns to be released by Hunter S. Thompson. And if you were on the beat-down side of his ink, then it was a bad omen because he created the appetite for more. But with today’s disposable journalism running rampant – how would you classify Hunter? I think he threw down and backed it up by living in it and calling it open and honest. Shouldn’t all brands be so fortunate to do this? We think so……..
NB X MLL X MetroLacrosse X Soldier Design
By Daniel Vogelzang | July 7th, 2010
A few weeks back, Soldier participated in a fun project to design the MLL All-Stars jersey and warm up shirts along with students participating in MetroLacrosse, an area non-profit using lacrosse as a vehicle to develop personal and academic achievement in students. Our designers worked with the students in concepting and designing the jerseys.
To watch video of the session, here’s the full write-up from NB and MLL’s take
Money Follows Love
By Bobby Riley | July 2nd, 2010
I am pleased to announce that the Love Money micro-site/blog has gone live today by the interative team at Soldier. This a followup to my Love Money intro back in April. We aligned with the Love Money folks about a year ago to carve out a provocative identity, product collection and online presence for starters. They are locked & loaded and will be making themselves known, so keep good attention and sit in expectancy with us as they continue to inspire and express what they are all about.
LIVE AS STRONG
By Barry Dugan | June 30th, 2010
As we look up and look back, things sometimes seem larger than just their
cause or just one moment. Just think, was it the yellow silicon wristband
that made you stop and think, or was it the performance of one man and his
bike? We blinked and millions were educated, millions were treated, and
millions cared. LIVESTRONG.org is going global in its position to drive
awareness and raise funds for cancer research. For me it was a foregone
conclusion that this important, simple, and creative mission was already
global. No, it had to start small and build appropriately and has not been
for dollars, but for difference. Awareness is powerful. Action is
definitive. So as Lance Armstrong saddles up for the 2010 Tour De France,
it is for LIVESTRONG and the mission that cancer can be defeated. Forever.
Lance answers the bell yet again and we all applaud his steely
determination and his foundation. He does not have to win races any
longer, things are much larger than that in 2010. Allez Allez!!
Harvard Square Fine Art
By Daniel Vogelzang | June 29th, 2010
Welcome Kasey
By Daniel Vogelzang | June 28th, 2010
We are excited to welcome Kasey Fechtor as the newest member of the studio. She will be serving an integral role here as Project Manager, overseeing the day-to-day workflow and helping to deliver great work for our clients. Kasey comes to us from Arnold Worldwide, where she was involved in brand planning and project management for excellent brands such as McDonald’s and Carnival Cruise Lines. Having worked on a wide variety of projects, ranging from localized POP to national television, we are confident that she will help us meet our clients’ current and future needs. Alongside her work experience, Kasey brings with her a love of branding and design and shares in our desire to use the two to create and maintain memorable relationships between brands and consumers. We are thrilled to have her on the team!
THE MEANING BEHIND THE SOLDIER DESIGN MARK
By Bobby Riley | June 9th, 2010
We’ve always received inquiries on the meaning of our graphic identity, but in recent months that inquiry has escalated for whatever reason. It is never a short answer, pitch or well delivered marketing message, rather it’s always a conversation on the key tenants of the Soldier brand and why we exist. I will deconstruct the four parts of the mark below and explain what each part means to us at Soldier and hopefully you can see how it comes together.
The Bird:
It’s an eagle, so we can start there. It’s not an alpha food chain thing more than an iconic bird that seemed fitting at the time and still does. Deeper than that perhaps, it’s a bird my dad loved. The eagle is simply a beautiful species that I learned to appreciate growing up through him, whether alive, vis-à-vis taxidermy and through image, motion or sound. You will notice the wings of the Soldier bird mark are lifted and raised high. The negative space creates a certain victory v-formation. It’s that “hell-ya-lu-yeah” hands in the air posture, that claims a certain faith, confidence and pioneering spirit we always enter an initiative with; i.e. Let’s create; Let’s invent; It’s on! To temper this we consider the feathered lightness of the bird just as much to remind ourselves to never take ourselves too seriously, which is classically known to kill joy and creativity. Staying light is essential to avoid falling into the trap of holding things too tight; especially oneself. It’s about promoting humility, so that no singular person at Soldier needs to experience the illusion that either total risk or reward is carried on one’s shoulders. It’s about team play, as our Business Director, Barry Dugan, would say. It’s also about rising above and seeing the landscape with perspective, which we believe is an operating vantage point one must have to truly create distinction and deliver an acute message with success.
The name Soldier:
It came as a bit of a vision or epiphany (perhaps a post of it’s own). The irony is that there is no intended military reference other than the implicit and explicit role of a soldier. A soldier, before all else, serves. Serves in a strategy-lead, tactical, excellent and vulnerable way. I believe design thinker and evangelist Tom Peters articulates the spirit of Soldier well in a recent blog post on excellence and service.
EXCELLENCE. Always.
If not EXCELLENCE, what?
If not EXCELLENCE now, when?
EXCELLENCE is not an “aspiration.”
EXCELLENCE is not a “journey.”
EXCELLENCE is the next five minutes.
Organizations exist to serve. Period.
Leaders exist to serve. Period.
Service is a beautiful word.
Service is a beautiful word. Service is character, community, commitment. (And profit.)
Service is a beautiful word. Service is not “Wow.” Service is not “raving fans.” Service is not “an experience.” Service is “just” that—SERVICE.
The word Design:
Design is subservient to Soldier. Design, like the idiom says, is a “means to a greater end” and never vice-versa at Soldier. Design is appreciated, studied and explored, but never idolized at Soldier. We look at design as a powerful weapon to deliver a message(s) in powerful ways. We use design to transition our clients from dial-up to broadband in message delivery. Often driven by consumer insights in our line of work, our design thinking doesn’t just capture the understanding of the information (mind), but an understanding and delivery through experience (heart and mind). Great design has the uncanny ability to break down dividing was of hostility whether stereotypical, cultural, racial or industrial, which is priority today as many of us are trying to advance our core audience, while continually trying to invite others into what we are trying say, offer, et al. We are trying bond well with many, you could say while being true and authentic to who we are. As a brand development group focused on the ‘consumer experience’, design is something that comes back around and serves us well in what we do and why it lives in the very name of our identity.
The Barcode:
Yes, the barcode does say Soldier Design. It was developed from a program that converts text into code and that can be read in an expected way. In our business it’s always about decoding, demystifying and working to make things clear, mostly through some level of control and consistency, but not always. In either case the barcode reminds us to get beyond the surface and that many answers and solutions are often deep, complex and to be discovered. From childhood, hide and seek has captivated us all and it continues through adolescents and beyond. It’s about seeking, unlocking and discovering. It’s the mystery that keeps us engaged in the story, which is a key through line for us all at Soldier. We must be telling a story in all we do. It must have characters, dialogue, plot power and be a journey above all. It must contain some universal truths in every great story. 1) Everything isn’t what it seems, like the barcode reminds us. 2)There is a great battle underway, which requires a certain soldiering tact to survive 3) You have a critical role to play, which speaks into the inclusive nature of relationships, and what it’s about at the end of the day. These are not unique to Soldier, but we own them in ways that are true to us.
What does your company stand for? Do you have a symbol or mark that carries a message and has the potential to be your stake in he ground to remind you and advance your team and audience on what you stand for and what direction you are heading together?
THE NIKE 78 PROJECT
By Bobby Riley | June 9th, 2010
Fleet feet: Justus Oehler's design for NIKE78.
Since its founding in 1978, Nike has led the way in developing trainers as state-of-the-art athletic footwear, as well as expressions of personal style and creativity. NIKE78 is a new project created by London College of Communications student Paul Jenkins that celebrates Nike’s legacy of design innovation. Using shoes donated to the school from a Nike concept store, Jenkins sent pairs to 78 designers, artists and other creatives and asked them to challenge the function of the shoes, using sport as inspiration. The ‘78’ celebrates the year of Nike’s founding, and the project officially launched on May 30, Nike’s birthday. The resulting designs are being posted to an online gallery.
A selection of the resulting concepts are shown here. Shown top is Wieden + Kennedy TokyoLAB’s contribution, which sees a Nike shoe reconfigured as a fish tank. A film of the shoe-tank in action is shown above. “The shoes we received were Nike Air Max 360, which emphasises the air in the soles more than any other Nike shoe,” say W+K TokyoLAB. “So we decided to create something based on the concept of air. What we did was keep the soles filled with air as is, but take off the upper part of the shoe and use it to mould a clear material into that shape. This became an aquarium for goldfish.”
MAVERIK IS ACQUIRED
By Bobby Riley | June 4th, 2010
Maverik Campaign by Soldier Design
It was recently announced that Kohlberg Sports Group Inc. has acquired Maverik Lacrosse, a leading designer, developer, manufacturer and marketer of lacrosse equipment, apparel and accessories. Kohlberg Sports Group Inc., an affiliate of Kohlberg & Company, L.L.C., also owns Bauer Hockey, the world’s leading manufacturer of ice hockey equipment. more>>
In 2004, John Gagliardi founded Maverik Lacrosse with the same drive that made him an All-World, Team USA defenseman. Gagliardi refused to let Maverik be just an ordinary brand, positioning it as a global leader in lacrosse products. Maverik and Soldier began working together in 2005 to build a brand by players, for players. Leading in with Soldier’s Brandseeking™, a creative brand platform process for storytelling, Soldier and Maverik entered into a solid 4 year relationship to build a brand that mattered utilizing a plethora of soldiers services to achieve intent i.e. strategy, interactive, print, photography, copy writing and product design. With the single minded goal of positioning Maverik as a technically advanced and opinion leading lacrosse brand.
Visit the Soldier site and view Maverik case study featured on the home page for a peak into some creative moments of our journey together.
We are happy about the acquisition, congratulate all involved and encouraged to see Maverik to continue to scale well.
Best!
THE BEAUTIFUL GAME
By Barry Dugan | June 3rd, 2010
By viewing the world as people and not projects, Soldier Design fights for progress and true engagement between brand and audience. We encounter fear, uncertainty, skepticism, optimism, and honest ego, but most of all, love, in our immersive collaborations with our partners. If you don’t posses one (or several) of these then how can you possibly challenge and progress? If there is love, there is cause for banding together (or as one) and completing amazing tasks or journeys.
We juxtapose this with the June 11th start of the FIFA World Cup taking place in South Africa. As a soccer player it is always easy for me to get my guard up as the US population at large scoffs at this tournament, despite some inspiring international promotion (education?) over the past several weeks. Why is there the enormous international excitement and open romanticism surrounding this tournament every four years? National Pride, Legacy, Politics, or Wealth? Smaller nations (like smaller brands) stand the chance to rise and accomplish phenomenal results in the face of massive odds. To love it, want it, will it to be. That is the quest. As the book below in Rework states ‘Pick A Fight’. What better place to do this then the largest spectated event in the world. Lace them up and let the soccer world order be established once more.
REWORK CHEAT SHEET
By Bobby Riley | June 2nd, 2010
Rework is a rad book by those clever folks at 37signals. You may remember me plugging it back last August or referencing some of my favorite chapters at some point or another. In essence, it’s a jumbo collection of short essays on how they do business. Below is a handwritten sketchbook filled with a condensed and concentrated version of the big takeaways, that a reader thought was important to turn into a cheat sheet at gnatgnat.com. I definitely dig his chicken scratch pen & ink type. It reminds me of how I would cram data into my notebook in business calc. in college. He also created a jumbo PDF link (12.7mb) to download a fully readable version, which I set up on my desktop for a quick reference.
DOWNLOAD THE MEGA PDF HERE (12.7mb)
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